A Magical Trip Report (2/14-2/20) Finished!

[MickeyNikiNaka]

sounds like another great day.....even with the rain!!

Laughed when I saw the SM pic....hilarious with the poncho over the face!!

There was a lady that saw the poncho picture and laughed so hard she was in TEARS! She just couldn't stop!

And the rain wasn't so bad! It kept the lines super short!

 

[pmama]

Hahahahahahaha, that poncho picture on Space Mountain is classic.

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

We only had one day left on our tickets, and although we were going to spend all day in the park, we had one more day that we would go and see what an extra day would cost, but not just yet because the line was really long! We got to the park at 9am on the dot, ran into line 13 which had NO people and headed over to Indy. We rode Indy because there was absolutely no line, we also grabbed a FP for later. After Indy we ran over to Mark Twain. There were two girls in front of us and I saw that they also had “1st visit” pins and they were so excited that I told their mother to go ask the captain if they could steer the boats. Of course the captain said yes! They were so happy that I couldn’t help but smile!

After Mark Twain, we ran into Pirates, again! You know, I absolutely LOVE that ride, and I would see new things on it each time I rode it, just like in the Haunted Mansion… What can I say, it’s a pirates life for me! We came out and headed over to FL but before we did that I decided I just HAD to try a Dole Whip Float. I hate pineapple, but like everyone has said, they were DELICIOUS

I couldn’t eat all of it because I’m really sensitive to dairy but the few bites that I did have were delightful AND I didn’t get really sick from it… leading me to believe that soft serve has some weird modified milk ingredients!

Anyway we headed over to FL to look at how long the lineup for Alice was, yeah that wasn’t happening at this moment! So we headed back over to Toon Town and really explored it, I love how everything in there is interactive! It’s really made for little kids, and people who feel like kids! We took a couple of pictures, caught the train and headed on over to Tomorrowland!

We used our FP for Space Mountain and after decided that now would be as good of a time as ever to go see Tom’s Island! As we were walking there DBF noticed vents right where you get onto tom’s island. (where you sit to watch F!) and as he was looking at them he got really excited and exclaimed “This is for Pirates!! These vents MUST lead to the pirates ride!” (Later I found out we were sadly mistaken but hey, it was a good theory!) So we rode to the island and explored!

The island is sooo neat! I was able to pump our water to find treasure, check out the dead man’s grotto. (I didn't pump anything actually, DBF did and all the kids around cried "DO IT AGAIN! I'M NOT PUMPING FAST ENOUGH, DO IT AGAIN!!!"

It was such a neat experience! After Tom we headed back to Pirates to see if the vents were the same, and we really thought they were! At some point we also picked up a FP for BTMRR and Splash so we hit those bad boys up immediately after! By this point it was getting close to five and we said that we were going to meet our friends for dinner. So we quickly rode both rides, we left the grounds and went to ask about getting our tickets upgraded for another day.

WAITING IN LINES – You know, I refused to do this for a ride, it’s too bad I can’t do the same to get my ticket upgraded!

We finally reach the front of the line and talk to the CM, ask if we can upgrade. “No problem! The price for a 6 day park hopper is (whatever) so the difference between a 5 and 6 day pass will be $75”

Ummm….see, that’s more than a one day pass….

Oh you’re right… I’ll be right back… the damage is five dollars… each


Oh, that’s much better!

We got back to the HOJO and I hate to put this in here but I have to because I wanted to warn other DISers, LOCK UP YOUR CHANGE!!! I love the HOJO, the service and the cleaning staff, everything was amazing however, on this particular day, the cleaning lady decided to go through DBF’s change that he had been leaving on top of the TV since we got there and only take the quarters (which ended up sucking because we were planning on using them for meter parking when we went to LA the next day)

I went down to the front desk and explained the situation to them, I wasn’t mad at all, I really want to stress that! I was just a little “Shut The Front Door!” and I wanted to let them know just in case something bigger happened. I’m not one to complain about things, at all so to go down there and be like “Um, we had 12 quarters that we were planning on using for parking, but now they’re gone… but all the dimes, nickels and pennies are there still” doesn’t make me feel exactly awesome. However, the staff was so nice, they told me that they probably assumed it was a tip and then when I explained that only the quarters were gone, they insisted that I tell them our room number and they put a $5 credit onto our room. I know it’s nothing to the HOJO, but to me it was a very kind gesture! Again, MY FAULT, not the HOJO's!!! Just Lock up your change in the safe's that they conveniently provide in every room just so circumstances such as these can be avoided!

After we figured all of that out we went to IHOP to eat. After we ate, we went to the Citadel Outlet and… I know that this is a Disney TR, but I just have to say I actually found a pair of jeans that fit! It was probably the most exciting part of the trip (Ah no, I’m not joking)! I'm very slender and have REALLY gotten into running lately so I've lost a fair number of inches and nothing was fitting me anymore!

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

Curse You Photobucket!!! Sorry for the sideways photo folks! It's not cooperating!

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

We had to get up early and take our friends to LAX that day. So naturally we decided to spend most of the day in LA. We had to be back by 430 because the rental car company was a little ridiculous and kept telling us the wrong information, meaning that we had to give up a day on our car, which was a little frustrating but it happens.

We walked up and down Hollywood Blvd and Sunset. I took lots of pictures while in LA. We tried to make it to the Hollywood sign but we got lost HOWEVER we ended up in this REALLY nice part of LA and saw a bunch of people with those star tour maps taking pictures of all the houses, so naturally I did the same thing from the car, I have no clue who’s houses they are but HEY who cares! LOL

I’m just going to pretend it’s Brangelina’s house! Do they even live in LA….

After the GPS finally told us how to leave the houses that left me with an inferiority complex we were on our way to a magical place. Not the Magic Kingdom, oh no something much more complex. Something I have been told stories of but never able to see or understand it’s magic until now…

Yeah that’s right I’m Canadian, I had never set foot in Nordstrom’s before… What’s it to ya? But seriously, JIMMY CHOO’S!!!!! I have a big shoe problem that’s gotten better as of late (Mainly because my feet have become more and more disfigured, I blame it on my 16 years of dancing) but I did pick up a pair of coach low tops that happened to match the purse that DBF bought me for Christmas! After my sweet purchase we headed into this 50’s diner for lunch! After lunch I dragged DBF into the American Girl store because I had read all the books when I was little (before they took off) and I just HAD to have a look-see!

After American Girl we headed back to the Outlet stores because I really needed more than one pair of jeans that fit. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to have a look around at other things too, right? Can we just take a moment and talk about how much I love shopping? Even when it’s not related to Disney? Ok thanks I appreciate that!

We headed back to the hotel room and dumped all of my bags, then we turned right around and took the car back. The rental company dropped us off at our hotel and we went back upstairs, grabbed our lanyards and headed back to the park. It was SUCH a nice day! I was determined to not wear a sweater for as long as possible! So I packed one that I had to eventually throw on but darn it all, I’m in California and there is over a foot of snow back home, I’m going to enjoy this weather!

We got into DL and realized we never checked out DTD. There was one shop there, it had a lot of airplanes in it… I new that we were going to be spending some time there (DBF is an Aircraft Maitnence Engineer, and LOVES what he does!) As DBF checked out all the airplanes, I walked the rest of DTD I went into the Rainforest Café, and the Lego store!!! HOW COOL IS THE LEGO?!?!?!

I was so impressed with the R2-D2 that I had to go get DBF! He loves Star Wars, and I’m not AS big of a fan but I have to say in the recent years, I’ve gotten more into it! After we looked at the Lego we decided that now would be as good of a time as any to ride the Monorail since it was right there! So we hopped on! We decided to take it all the way around so we could see the park from the Monorail point of view! We finally got off in Tomorrowland and headed over to Innovations because we were told it was something we needed to check out! Tom Morrow is now my BFF! Ok, not really but it was a cool “party” besides the little pitch they give you to begin with, but I can over look that! The Robot wasn’t working the day we went which was kind of a bummer because I really wanted to see him at work, but I guess that means that I have a reason to go back now right??? LOL

After Innovations we decided that we should get something to eat. We headed over to the French Market, mainly because we hadn’t tried it! But before we did that we made a pit stop at Buzz for a FP! We hit the FP right before it changed times I think because we only had to wait like 40 mins!

WARNING! FOOD PORN!

I had the Jambalaya and DBF had the Roast Beef! HOLY PORTIONS BATMAN! We decided that we should split an apple pie as well, we were SOOO full that we couldn’t eat it! We were debating offering it to someone around us but decided that would be a little weird, even for DL! We got a to go tray and a couple of forks from the Riverbell as we headed back to Buzz, but before we went to Buzz, being the DL saavy people we were now, we stopped at BTMRR and grabbed another FP!

We hopped onto Buzz and once again, my score was rather pathetic in comparison to DBF’s but that’s just how it goes! Once we got off the ride, we decided that our food had settled enough that we could eat the Apple Crumble Pie thing that I never took a picture of! (20 minutes is more than enough time for food to digest people, trust me!) After we finished eating the Apple contraption DBF wanted to try his hand at Shootin’ so we headed back over to New Orleans where DBF got to shoot some stuff! We ran out of change, so we headed over to Alice to see how the line for that was. SHORT! Or at least as short as it was going to get so we jumped at the chance to ride it! While we were in line there were girls in front of us who refused to touch the ground and would only walk on the railings I’m all for being a kid but seriously one of the kids slipped and almost took out half of her teeth, and the mother was like “see, that’s what happens!” Um, ok?

We rode Alice, jumped off, headed over to see how Peter Pan looked, not very promising… Oh well, next time!! Hehehe We then headed over to BTMRR and rode that one last time, I have to say it’s a totally different experience riding rides at night! AND I LIKE IT! After BTMRR we weren’t sure what to do…. So naturally we hit up Pirates! (What can I say? I LOVE that ride!) we walked on and got the very front, as we went to sit down DBF and I looked at each other and wondered why it was so wet… we found out rather quickly! While we were in the boat the kids sitting behind us were so infatuated with everything that when we came to the pirate lying on the bed I had to use my DIS knowledge and turned around and exclaimed, “did you know that the skull above the bed there is real?” Now, I forgot how cool stuff like that was for young boys! LOL
After we hopped off Pirates we decided that we should go and do the Haunted Mansion one more time, I think that after Pirates, this was DBF’s fav ride! I really want to know how they project the orb head!!!! After HM DBF wanted to go shoot some more stuff, which was fine with me because I wanted some Fritters! If someone has the recipe for those puppies, can you send it my way? Man they were tasty! After one order of fritters and $3 of quarters later, we decided that it was time to head back to the hotel. F! was almost over and we wanted to beat the rush of people walking back to the hotels.

We walked back to Main Street where I quickly snapped a couple more photos and said goodbye to this magical land. However, I couldn’t leave without a caramel apple. I had wanted one since the first day that we got there, but I was being good! I thought that DBF and I would share one, however, that wasn’t the case.

I couldn’t even finish mine and ended up having to peel off half of the caramel just so I could get a bite of the apple!!! However, walking back to the HOJO, munching on a caramel apple, and enjoying all the happy faces around me, I knew I would be back. We had reached Mimi’s and were waiting for the light so we could cross when DBF put his arm around me and kissed my forehead and said “Thanks for this, I really needed it” to which I replied (With apple in my mouth) “Does this mean we get to come back?” “Oh, don’t worry, we’ll be back”

DSE, it gets you before you even leave Anaheim!

 

[kaoden39]

You're right about the DSE. I start planning the next trip in my mind before we ever leave Disneyland. I went to Rodeo Drive for the first time in 2006 and I grew up in California and it was amazing. I felt like a true tourist. Jimmy Choo had a huge show and they closed off Rodeo Drive one night while we were there I wanted to go so bad. Just to say that I had. Not that I could even wear his shoes but I am a major fan of Sex and the City. Silly huh? And to me another must do when I am there is go see Richard Simmons. I love this man.

 

[Sherry E]

You're right about the DSE. I start planning the next trip in my mind before we ever leave Disneyland. I went to Rodeo Drive for the first time in 2006 and I grew up in California and it was amazing. I felt like a true tourist. Jimmy Choo had a huge show and they closed off Rodeo Drive one night while we were there I wanted to go so bad. Just to say that I had. Not that I could even wear his shoes but I am a major fan of Sex and the City. Silly huh? And to me another must do when I am there is go see Richard Simmons. I love this man.

Don't want to venture OT, but just wanted to throw in that I, too, am a major Sex and the City fan, MIchele. One of my all-time favorite shows. Can't wait for the movie sequel in the next couple of years!

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT RICHARD SIMMONS!!! I used to listen to Lighten Up with Richard Simmons every Sunday when I would drive back to school!!! MAN NOW I HAVE TO GO BACK!!!!

 

[kaoden39]

Oooh! It is good reason! And Disneyland too!

 

[QueenDoOver]

I have absolutely NO idea! I was so upset though and I know that everyone else was a little miffed about the whole thing!

Oh, I was there too! Here's my philosophy on the early closing. They had expected huge crowds because of the holiday. When the crowds stayed home, they made a "budget" decision that they could not support paying all the staff for the number of people in the parks. It was frustrating.

The good part of that night for my family was that we went to get on the monorail at 8:30 and she said, sorry it is closed for the fireworks. EArlier they had posted the fireworks cancelled. So I quickly diverted my family to the canal boats where they were getting ready to load up. After explaining that yes we understood the boats would be stopped for the fireworks we climbed aboard and had a magical experience watching the show from that perspective. The skipper was great and kept nudging the boat a little for us to get a better view. My 6 year old had fallen asleep when we watched from in front of the castle on Saturday, so he really loved it. It was one of our highlights for sure.

I enjoyed your trip report. Sure wish I could find the ambition and/or the memory to put mine together. I do have about 800 pictures to remind me, so maybe I will figure it out one day soon!

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

Thanks! I really enjoyed writing it, as this was my first trip to DL I wanted to capture the memories! However, with a 6 year old, I'm pretty sure you have more on your plate!

 

[rainwatter]

I just read through your trip report, and I loved it. I'm glad you had a magical trip and I hope you make it back soon!

 

[auntiegem]

Your report was so fun to read . . . your personality definitely shows! I loved how you shared a little insider knowledge on POTC. Oh, and you're a girl after my own heart -- Loves shoes. Loves POTC. Come back soon so we can have another report please.

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

Your report was so fun to read . . . your personality definitely shows! I loved how you shared a little insider knowledge on POTC. Oh, and you're a girl after my own heart -- Loves shoes. Loves POTC. Come back soon so we can have another report please.

Really, how can you NOT love Shoes and POTC? Wait, did I actually just type that?

And truthfully, I want to go back tomorrow, the only problem with that is I should probably graduate... and pay off some of my student loans first... LOL But I am seriously considering doing the Princess Half Marathon next year!






Thanks for the people who took the time to read my TR

I did it for myself, I'm not going to lie, but knowing that other people enjoy hearing about my adventures makes my day!

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

everyone goes to The Grove, right up the street from where I live, which is where a lot of celebrities go to shop without being hassled. It is a lovely outdoor shopping center. Next time you are out here, you should try going to The Grove and the famous Farmers Market. I have to get back up to CityWalk one of these days and see what's changed. For a while, my friends and I were all about going there but just stopped. I never go to Universal Studios either - and the whole Universal area is about 20 minutes from where I am.

I don't know what I was doing when I first read this post! I WAS at the Grove! We ate at the 50's diner! It was the closet Nordstoms from Hollywood Blvd

 

[disneynerd420]

I enjoyed your TR. It sounds like you had a really good time. I hope you get to go back soon!

 

[Brian Shepherd]

Hey great trip report.....what were the lineups like for the rides, also do you have a picture of the readerboard that shows wait time?

THANKS!